


In the Shadows

by unknowabledreamer (DrowningInStarlight)



Series: On loyalty and kings [2]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Angst, Book 2: The Dream Thieves, Cars, Joseph Kavinsky is His Own Warning, M/M, Swearing, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-27 07:06:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14420130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrowningInStarlight/pseuds/unknowabledreamer
Summary: Ronan looked at Adam, but didn't say a word."Exactly," Adam said. "You can't promise usanything, because fucking Kavinsky always manages to call you back.""I'm not anyone's pet," Ronan snarled."Doesn't look like it from where I'm standing."





	In the Shadows

**Author's Note:**

> I'm addicted to this series. Help.
> 
> This is the second part of a series, but you 100% don't have to read the first to understand this one. But if you enjoy this, you'll probably enjoy the first one too.

Wherever you began Joseph Kavinsky's story, it was about pain.

It was the kind of pain that settled itself in his bones, became a part of him to the point he didn't know who he would be without it. He was a meteorite on a collision course with earth, and he refused to burn quietly. 

So he held these parties, ran this kingdom, fucked up places for fucked up people. He specialised in things that drowned out your thoughts, emptied your head. It worked, mostly. People liked company while they were dying.

Even since he'd first raced Ronan Lynch, he'd known who Ronan was. Pain is hard to hide from someone who was born in it, and Ronan had never tried to hide his pain anyway. Kavinsky kept an eye out for him at every party, because with Ronan Lynch came trouble, and trouble was all that kept Kavinsky's heart beating. 

And when he saw that Ronan had brought along Adam Parrish, Kavinsky's heart beat a little faster. Adam Parrish had also been raised with pain, and it showed in every elegant line of his face. Those two were a bomb on a short fuse, and the explosion was going to be _glorious._

He'd had some things lined up to burn already. A few cars, but nothing special. Just another average night in a slow death filled with average nights. But now, as he watched Ronan and Adam get out of the BMW and bump fists before heading into the smoky gloom, he had an idea. They were Gansey's, it was clear from a mile off. Kavinsky understood loyalty, even if he never gave it. 

He had an idea, and he needed to dream. 

 

*** 

 

It could have been a dream, and Ronan wouldn't have known the difference. That was the thing about Kavinsky's world, the reason it called people back again and again. It blurred the lines between dream and reality, mixed them into something that was neither sleep nor wakefulness, a hallucination of freedom. 

He looked over at Adam, who looked more awake than Ronan had ever seen him. He had a bottle in his hand, but he didn't look like he was going to drink it-- rather smash it over someone's head.

He was a grounding presence. This must be real, because Ronan had never dreamt an Adam that was quite right, and this one was _perfect._

"Do you come to these often, then, Lynch?" he asked. 

Ronan shrugged. "When I feel like it."

Adam turned away. They were standing next to one of the stacks of pallets that people were using for seats, and the massive bonfire burned a little way away. He looked at the bottle for a moment, then threw it into the fire with a violence that surprised Ronan. It smashed and flames roared up, devouring the alcohol. There were whoops of fierce joy from the crowd, and Ronan agreed with them. He wanted it all to burn, burn, _burn_.

"I think I hate it," Adam said.

"Everyone does. We end up here anyway."

"Have you ever brought Gansey here?" Adam asked. 

"Jealous?" 

Adam rolled his eyes. "Just wondering how he'd react to... all this." He waved a hand around them. Someone else threw something on the fire, it lit up in a flare of deep purple flame. It made people look strange and unearthly as it burned off. 

"No. I've never brought Gansey here. Maybe someday, but currently you're the only person who's asshole enough to appreciate this."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment."

"It was meant to be." 

"He thinks he's losing you, Lynch," Adam said quietly.

"Do you two spend a lot of time discussing me, then?"

Adam didn't reply, just stared into the fire. 

"You know he's not, Parrish."

"Look me in the eyes and tell me you've never wanted to stay here and get lost forever." 

Somewhere behind them, a car's tyres screeched, people jeered and shouted. The energy crackled between everyone, a violent kind of bloodlust. The shouting resolved into one word, repeated again and again; _fight fight fight fight--_

Ronan looked at Adam, but didn't say a word. 

"Exactly," Adam said. "You can't promise us _anything_ , because fucking Kavinsky always manages to call you back."

"I'm not anyone's pet," Ronan snarled. 

"Doesn't look like it from where I'm standing." 

"Fuck you, Parrish," Ronan said. He was about to walk away when Jiang shoved his shoulder and pointed across the tarmac.

"Look!" he shouted. "Isn't that-- Parrish, Lynch, you guys are _fucked--_ "

Adam and Ronan both turned to look, and-- 

Ronan's heart nearly stopped. Kavinsky was driving the Pig. 

After a moment of sheer horror, logic caught up with him. There was no way it was the real Pig, _no way._ Kavinsky was a forger, and that was all this was-- a forgery. But it was no coincidence that he'd chosen a Camaro in that particularly obnoxious shade of orange. 

Gansey and Kavinsky, twin kings of opposing courts, as unlike as day and night. Rivals. Ronan recognised this for what it was: a challenge. A slight against Gansey and his followers. 

Kavinsky brought the Camaro to a shrieking halt, and the crowd roared.

"What the _fuck_ does he think he's doing?" Ronan said.

"I don't know," Adam said. "The _bastard._ He has no right--"

"You know it's not the real Pig, right?"

"It doesn't matter whether it is or not. It's to send a message to us. To _you_." Adam's eyes were as hard as flint. Ronan had forgotten, Adam was as fluent in this language of violence as he was, perhaps more so. There's a difference between learning a language and being born with it. 

Adam's next words were cutting. "Who are you going to choose?"

"Oh, fuck off, Parrish," Ronan said, and headed for the fake Pig, and Kavinsky. He'd wanted a fight, and here-- here was a fight he just couldn't turn down. 

 

***

 

Ronan pushed through the crowds of people watching the cars, and strode out to the clear space beyond. Someone-- Skov, he thought-- hollered at him from the Mitsubishi, but Ronan ignored him.

Kavinsky was looking calm and unruffled in the driver's seat of the Camaro. He rolled down the window when Ronan got close enough to hear him, and said "Get out of the way, Lynch, or I'll run you down."

"I'm not going anywhere," Ronan growled. 

"What the _hell_ is this, Kavinsky?" Adam demanded, coming to stand at Ronan's side. 

"It's exactly what it looks like, Parrish," he said. "An orange Camaro. You got a problem with that?"

"Maybe I have," Adam said. "Why the fuck are you wrecking Gansey's car?"

"You know, I had real high hopes for you, Parrish," Kavinsky drawled. "Pity you've turned out to be just another of Dick's bitches."

Ronan kicked the side of the Camaro. "Shut your goddamn mouth about Gansey."

"Gonna make me, Lynch? I didn't think so. Now _get out of the way."_

Adam, his self-preservation instincts much sharper than Ronan's, grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the way, as Kavinsky skidded forwards. 

"We can't fucking let him--"

"We can't stop him, Lynch." 

Kavinsky drove the Pig into the centre of the tarmac, where everyone could see it. Then he got out, and began to pour something over it, and with a sick feeling Ronan realised exactly what Kavinsky had planned. 

"Oh my god, he's going to--"

"Burn it," Ronan finished. "He's going to burn it."

Kavinsky stepped back, and threw a light inside the car. It caught in an instant, a firestorm that resembled Gansey's soul. Ronan wanted to do something, anything, to scream or shout or burn along with it. 

He felt Adam take a step forward, and Ronan grabbed his arm to stop him. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the Pig, couldn't tell if it was gasoline or blood dripping onto the tarmac. Was there even a difference any more?

He pulled Adam's arm so they were facing each other, and said in a low voice, "I don't have a choice to make, Adam. There's no question, no doubt, no fucking _anything._ I'm Gansey's man, through and through. Everyone knows it. Nothing in heaven or hell can change that." 

Adam held his gaze for a moment, then nodded. "I believe you."

"You'd better. 'Cause it's the truth. He's the only goddamn good thing I have left, so you can bet I'm not letting him go."

"How does he do it?" Adam said. "How does he find people like... like us?" 

"Fucked up, you mean?"

"Speak for yourself."

"He just does. Always has. He's gonna find that fucking king, too."

Adam gave him a look.

"Whatever you wanna believe, Parrish. But I'm by his side whatever happens."

"I... I think I am too." 

One of the tyres blew behind them, and they both flinched. The crowd roared again, and Adam's eyes were full of reflected fire. 

"Shall we?" he said. 

"Beat the shit out of Kavinsky and the others? _Hell_ yes."

Everything was fire and darkness, anger and Adam. Ronan felt more alive than he had for years. 

_The ocean burned._

**Author's Note:**

> I know everyone has their own interpretation of Kavinsky, so I hope you enjoyed mine. 
> 
> Comments/kudos are always welcome!


End file.
